Raw Reaction (2/10/2013): “Raw is White”

Last night’s show opened exactly where I feared it would: with Betty White walking out to the ring. Luckily, Big Show stepped up to be the world’s largest arm candy. And this whole charade quickly ended when The Authority came out. Thank goodness. Too bad it didn’t signal Betty White’s final appearance on the show.

It was smart of creative to have The Authority address the Daniel Bryan “face of WWE” situation. And hearing Randy Orton apologize to Triple H and Stephanie was a good idea. Unfortunately, Orton was struggling on the mic last night, and his delivery was all over the place. Daniel Bryan saved the segment by calling out Kane, and, in true heel fashion, Triple H told him to take the night off. If they are still building towards an eventual Bryan-Triple H match at ‘Mania, then I think they’re doing it at the right pace. I just wish this segment didn’t feel quite so similar to last week’s opening.

The three-on-three match featuring Rey Mysterio & The Brotherhood in a losing effort against The Wyatts was quick fun, and continued the Rhodes family dissolution. Fandango also picked up a quick win against Santino Marella. But overall, the first hour of RAW did little more than fill time. Which is a shame. Always.

Is anybody else sick of seeing Batista by this point? I’m guessing so, based off the chorus of Boos throughout his one ringside appearance. His feud with Alberto Del Rio is too one-sided to make anybody care. And when the fans actively hate BOOtista, and are indifferent to Del Rio, why should they care about an eventual matchup between them?

The Shield’s ongoing dissolution is great. Last night I really expected Roman Reigns to step-up and challenge Ambrose for the US Title. That probably would’ve been too soon since, it seems like, WWE is setting up a final breakdown between these three men at Elimination Chamber. Still, there’s money in Ambrose against Reigns – with Reigns becoming more sympathetic each week. Too bad Seth Rollins feels like a complete outsider these days.

Many hats off to Christian, Sheamus, and The Real Americans for delivering a fantastic tag match. Bar-none the most entertaining aspect of RAW. I won’t give Swagger too much credit here (since, obviously, Cesao carried the match), but these guys had great chemistry and solid booking. THIS is how you book a tag-team match.

Speaking of tag-teams… The Usos look primed to step up against The New Age Outlaws. Fantastic. I’ve been singing their praises for a little over six months now, so let’s hope they walk away with gold.

Betty White was all over WWE TV last night which… ugh, was just not funny. And if it was, credit goes to Road Dogg for understanding how to connect with his audience. Still, this whole thing was a giant miss. As is most of WWE’s cross-promotion these days.

Randy Orton and John Cena delivered a solid effort to end the show. It was better than their Royal Rumble match, and more entertaining than the crowd gave both men credit for. I take issue with Orton, the WWE World Heavyweight Champion, losing cleanly on RAW for two consecutive weeks (yes, I know he beat Christian on Smackdown, but nobody watches that… just ask Jerry “I watched Golden Girls for two hours last night!” Lawler). Orton can be booked to look weak without bringing the championship prestige down. But that’s me being nitpicky.

Overall show was worth watching, but not worth watching for three hours. A couple of fantastic matches, mixed with some not-terrible talking segments, and some logical story continuation, kept me involved. And making last night’s main-event feel like a big deal with the flashbacks, match-up cards, etc., was a good choice. That’s how you get fans to care about the wrestlers. Er, I’m sorry, the “superstars.”

Did you enjoy RAW last night? Was Betty White worth the wait? Or were you snarky on Twitter throughout the show, like me? Sound off in the comments below, or on Twitter and Facebook!

About Michael A. Wiseman

Michael is a pro wrestling enthusiast, MMA fan, and all-around geek. When not blogging, he likes to catch up on TV shows or dig in to the latest tech news. You can follow him on Twitter @therealwiseman.

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2 comments

I typed up a lot just now and my browser crashed when I clicked post.. doh!
Bullet points:
*Ziggler mad he did not get full entrance? Looked that way.
*Fans forcing wwe to do a wcw new blood storyline, sick of the old guard.
*Cesaro, Ziggler & Bryan need to be leaders. All over big time.
*Cena = Miami Heat. Guys above = Dallas Mavericks. 95% of fans want to see the Mavericks end up winning the series because they are the underdogs and Lebron jumped ship. Cena has it all now, time for a change.. People are booing. Draw your parallels. Cena will be more profitable after being heel for one or two seasons like Lebron. He can still do charities, Del Rio does dastardly things constantly and then the first commercial you see is him saying not to bully and whatnot. The next few months are going to be really important for the future of the company, I believe.

Sucks about your browser crash! Are you using Chrome? Always works best for me.

I think you’re right in a lot of ways. While I’d love to see a John Cena heel, I still think WWE won’t want to pull the trigger as long as he’s bankrolling merchandise money. At least they’re giving his character a modified direction. Cena putting over young talent, like Bray Wyatt, is exactly where he needs to be this day and age… too bad it’s probably not going down that way.